The 1918 Influenza Pandemic I opened the window, And in-flu-enza. The influenza pandemic circled the globe. Most of humanity felt the effects of this strain of the influenza virus. It spread following the path of its human carriers, along trade routes and shipping lines. Outbreaks swept through North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Brazil and the South Pacific (Taubenberger). In India the mortality rate was extremely high at around 50 deaths from influenza per 1,000 people (Brown). The Great War, with its mass movements of men in armies and aboard ships, probably aided in its rapid diffusion and attack. The origins of the deadly flu disease were unknown but widely speculated upon. Some of the allies thought of the epidemic as a biological warfare tool of the Germans. Many thought it was a result of the trench warfare, the use of mustard gases and the generated "smoke and fumes" of the war. A national campaign began using the ready rhetoric of war to fight the new enemy of microscopic proportions. A study attempted to reason why the disease had been so devastating in certain localized regions, looking at the climate, the weather and the racial composition of cities.

They found humidity to be linked with more severe epidemics as it "fosters the dissemination of the bacteria," (Committee on Atmosphere and Man, 1923). Meanwhile the new sciences of the infectious agents and immunology were racing to come up with a vaccine or therapy to stop the epidemics. The experiences of people in military camps encountering the influenza pandemic: An excerpt for the memoirs of a survivor at Camp Funston of the pandemic Survivor A letter to a fellow physician describing conditions during the influenza epidemic at Camp Devens A collection of letters of a soldier stationed in Camp Funston Soldier The origins of this influenza variant is not precisely known. It is thought to have originated in China in a rare genetic shift of the influenza virus. The recombination of its surface proteins created a virus novel to almost everyone and a loss of herd immunity. Recently the virus has been reconstructed from the tissue of a dead soldier and is now being genetically characterized . The name of Spanish Flu came from the early affliction and large mortalities in Spain (BMJ,10/19/1918) where it allegedly killed 8 million in May (BMJ, 7/13/1918).

However, a first wave of influenza appeared early in the spring of 1918 in Kansas and in military camps throughout the US. Few noticed the epidemic in the midst of the war. Wilson had just given his 14 point address. There was virtually no response or acknowledgment to the epidemics in March and April in the military camps. It was unfortunate that no steps were taken to prepare for the usual recrudescence of the virulent influenza strain in the winter. The lack of action was later criticized when the epidemic could not be ignored in the winter of 1918 (BMJ, 1918). These first epidemics at training camps were a sign of what was coming in greater magnitude in the fall and winter of 1918 to the entire world. The war brought the virus back into the US for the second wave of the epidemic. It first arrived in Boston in September of 1918 through the port busy with war shipments of machinery and supplies. The war also enabled the virus to spread and diffuse. Men across the nation were mobilizing to join the military and the cause. As they came together, they brought the virus with them and to those they contacted.

The virus killed almost 200,00 in October of 1918 alone. In November 11 of 1918 the end of the war enabled a resurgence. As people celebrated Armistice Day with parades and large partiess, a complete disaster from the public health standpoint, a rebirth of the epidemic occurred in some cities. The flu that winter was beyond imagination as millions were infected and thousands died. Just as the war had effected the course of influenza, influenza affected the war. Entire fleets were ill with the disease and men on the front were too sick to fight. The flu was devastating to both sides, killing more men than their own weapons could. With the military patients coming home from the war with battle wounds and mustard gas burns, hospital facilities and staff were taxed to the limit. This created a shortage of physicians, especially in the civilian sector as many had been lost for service with the military. Since the medical practitioners were away with the troops, only the medical students were left to care for the sick. Third and forth year classes were closed and the students assigned jobs as interns or nurses (Starr,1976).

One article noted that "depletion has been carried to such an extent that the practitioners are brought very near the breaking point," (BMJ, 11/2/1918). The shortage was further confounded by the added loss of physicians to the epidemic. In the U.S., the Red Cross had to recruit more volunteers to contribute to the new cause at home of fighting the influenza epidemic. To respond with the fullest utilization of nurses, volunteers and medical supplies, the Red Cross created a National Committee on Influenza. It was involved in both military and civilian sectors to mobilize all forces to fight Spanish influenza (Crosby, 1989). In some areas of the US, the nursing shortage was so acute that the Red Cross had to ask local businesses to allow workers to have the day off if they volunteer in the hospitals at night (Deseret News). Emergency hospitals were created to take in the patients from the US and those arriving sick from overseas. The pandemic affected everyone. With one-quarter of the US and one-fifth of the world infected with the influenza, it was impossible to escape from the illness.

Even President Woodrow Wilson suffered from the flu in early 1919 while negotiating the crucial treaty of Versailles to end the World War (Tice). Those who were lucky enough to avoid infection had to deal with the public health ordinances to restrain the spread of the disease. The public health departments distributed gauze masks to be worn in public. Stores could not hold sales, funerals were limited to 15 minutes. Some towns required a signed certificate to enter and railroads would not accept passengers without them. Those who ignored the flu ordinances had to pay steep fines enforced by extra officers (Deseret News). Bodies pilled up as the massive deaths of the epidemic ensued. Besides the lack of health care workers and medical supplies, there was a shortage of coffins, morticians and gravediggers (Knox). The conditions in 1918 were not so far removed from the Black Death in the era of the bubonic plague of the Middle Ages. In 1918-19 this deadly influenza pandemic erupted during the final stages of World War I. Nations were already attempting to deal with the effects and costs of the war. Propaganda campaigns and war restrictions and rations had been implemented by governments.

Nationalism pervaded as people accepted government authority. This allowed the public health departments to easily step in and implement their restrictive measures. The war also gave science greater importance as governments relied on scientists, now armed with the new germ theory and the development of antiseptic surgery, to design vaccines and reduce mortalities of disease and battle wounds. Their new technologies could preserve the men on the front and ultimately save the world. These conditions created by World War I, together with the current social attitudes and ideas, led to the relatively calm response of the public and application of scientific ideas. People allowed for strict measures and loss of freedom during the war as they submitted to the needs of the nation ahead of their personal needs. They had accepted the limitations placed with rationing and drafting. The responses of the public health officials reflected the new allegiance to science and the wartime society. The medical and scientific communities had developed new theories and applied them to prevention, diagnostics and treatment of the influenza patients.

Return to the Top The pandemic begins abroad - The 1918 influenza pandemic | NZHistory, New Zealand history online The 1918 influenza pandemic Page 2 – The pandemic begins abroad The first wave When the ‘new pandemic flu’ first appeared in 1918 there was no immediate cause for alarm. The disease was different to other strains experienced in the past – for example, it was unusually prevalent amongst young healthy adults. But most people affected by what would turn out to be ‘the first wave’ of the pandemic recovered. The Spanish flu The 1918 influenza pandemic was commonly referred to as ‘the Spanish flu’ but it did not originate in Spain. It was given the popular name by journalists when the Spanish King, Alfonso XIII, fell seriously ill with a form of influenza in May that year. Evidence suggests that this ‘mild’ first wave originated in North America. Influenza was present in many countries in late 1917 and early 1918.

According to influenza historian Geoffrey Rice, author of Black November, only a ‘well-documented’ outbreak in Haskell County, Kansas, in January–February 1918 bore all ‘the characteristics of a new pandemic flu – high attack rate, higher morbidity rate and greater mortality than is usual for influenza’. The disease spread among recruits who entered Camp Funston in Kansas, then to camps in Georgia and South Carolina, and then rapidly across the Midwest. American soldiers are also credited with bringing the disease to Europe, where the first cases appeared near the huge American transit camps at Brest and Bordeaux in early April. By June the first wave had spread across most civilian populations in Europe. The first wave followed normal diffusion patterns and struck the southern hemisphere a few months later, becoming prevalent in New Zealand in September. By this time it had run its course in Europe and cases related to the more severe second wave were emerging. The second wave Second wave deaths The first New Zealanders affected by the second wave of the 1918 influenza pandemic were soldiers of the 40th Reinforcement on board the troopship Tahiti.

On 22 August their convoy – which had called at Cape Town, South Africa, en route to Plymouth, England – refuelled at Sierra Leone, West Africa. None of the crew or soldiers went ashore as fever was reported to be raging. But locals came on board to coal the ship, and within days over half of the men on board fell ill. The final death toll exceeded 80. The first cases of a more severe form of influenza emerged amongst British and French troops serving on the Western Front early in July 1918. By mid-August the second wave, ‘a highly infectious flu, with sudden onset and an alarming propensity for pneumonic complications’, was spreading rapidly in France. This time Europe would be responsible for infecting North America. By late September the second wave was well established in most of major cities. The second wave did not follow normal diffusion patterns, instead striking the southern hemisphere while the disease was still raging in the northern hemisphere. In October, for example, the flu was at its worst in countries as far apart as South Africa, Japan, China, Peru, Greece and Italy. It is now thought that the worldwide death toll was as high as 50 million.

According to historian Geoffrey Rice, the puzzle of the simultaneous outbreaks in both hemispheres may be resolved: When one follows the very rapid diffusion from a July epicentre in eastern France: the second wave did not peak everywhere at the same time but was spread over four months, allowing ample time for diffusion by sea and rail. Through the systematic analysis of individual death certificates, Rice calculated that New Zealand's peak of mortality occurred on 23 November 1918. This date has proved useful in dispelling the belief that the RMS Niagara was responsible for bringing a deadly new influenza virus to New Zealand. The 1918 flu pandemic 1918 Flu Pandemic - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com 1918 Flu Pandemic A+E Networks Introduction The influenza or flu pandemic of 1918 to 1919, the deadliest in modern history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide–about one-third of the planet’s population at the time–and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims. More than 25 percent of the U.S. population became sick, and some 675,000 Americans died during the pandemic.

The 1918 flu was first observed in Europe, the U.S. and parts of Asia before swiftly spreading around the world. Surprisingly, many flu victims were young, otherwise healthy adults. At the time, there were no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this killer flu strain or prevent its spread. In the U.S., citizens were ordered to wear masks, and schools, theaters and other public places were shuttered. Researchers later discovered what made the 1918 pandemic so deadly: In many victims, the influenza virus had invaded their lungs and caused pneumonia. Google Flu Facts Influenza, or flu, is a virus that attacks the respiratory system. The flu virus is highly contagious: When an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks, respiratory droplets are generated and transmitted into the air, and can then can be inhaled by anyone nearby. Additionally, a person who touches something with the virus on it and then touches his or her mouth, eyes or nose can become infected. Did You Know? During the flu pandemic of 1918, the New York City health commissioner tried to slow the transmission of the flu by ordering businesses to open and close on staggered shifts to avoid overcrowding on the subways.

Flu outbreaks happen every year and vary in severity, depending in part on what type of virus is spreading. (Flu viruses, which are divided into three broad categories, can rapidly mutate.) In the U.S., “flu season” generally runs from late fall into spring. In a typical year, more than 200,000 Americans are hospitalized for flu-related complications, and over the past three decades, there have been some 3,000 to 49,000 flu-related deaths in the U.S. annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Young children, people over age 65, pregnant women and people with certain medical conditions, such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease, face a higher risk of flu-related complications, including pneumonia, ear and sinus infections and bronchitis. A flu pandemic, such as the one in 1918, occurs when an especially virulent new influenza strain for which there’s little or no immunity appears and spreads quickly from person-to-person around the globe. The Flu Strikes Far and Wide The first wave of the 1918 pandemic occurred in the spring and was generally mild.

The sick, who experienced such typical flu symptoms as chills, fever and fatigue, usually recovered after several days, and the number of reported deaths was low. However, a second, highly contagious wave of influenza appeared with a vengeance in the fall of that same year. Victims died within hours or days of their symptoms appearing, their skin turning blue and their lungs filling with fluid that caused them to suffocate. In just one year, 1918, the average life expectancy in America plummeted by a dozen years. It’s unknown exactly where the particular strain of influenza that caused the pandemic came from; however, the 1918 flu was first observed in Europe, America and areas of Asia before spreading to almost every other part of the planet within a matter of months. Despite the fact that the 1918 flu wasn’t isolated to one place, it became known around the world as the Spanish flu, as Spain was one of the earliest countries to be hit hard by the disease. Even Spain’s king, Alfonso XIII (1886-1931), contracted the flu.

One unusual aspect of the 1918 flu was that it struck down many previously healthy, young people–a group normally resistant to this type of infectious illness–including a number of World War I (1914-18) servicemen. In fact, journalist Gina Kolata has reported that more U.S. soldiers died from the 1918 flu than were killed in battle during the war. Forty percent of the U.S. Navy was hit with the flu, while 36 percent of the Army became ill, notes Kolata in her book on the subject. Although the death toll attributed to the 1918 flu is often estimated at 20 million to 50 million victims worldwide, other estimates run as high as 100 million victims. The exact numbers are impossible to know due to a lack of medical record-keeping in many places. What is known, however, is that few locations were immune to the 1918 flu–in America, victims ranged from residents of major cities to those of remote Alaskan communities.

Even President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) reportedly contracted the flu in early 1919 while negotiating the Treaty of Versailles , which ended World War I. Fighting the Flu When the 1918 flu hit, doctors and scientists were unsure what caused it or how to treat it. Unlike today, there were no effective vaccines or antivirals, drugs that treat the flu. (The first licensed flu vaccine appeared in America in the 1940s; by the following decade, vaccine manufacturers could routinely produce vaccines that would help control and prevent future pandemics, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.) Complicating matters was the fact that World War I had left parts of America with a shortage of physicians and other health workers. And of the available medical personnel in the U.S., many came down with the flu themselves. Additionally, hospitals in some areas were so overloaded with flu patients that schools, private homes and other buildings had to be converted into makeshift hospitals, some of which were staffed by medical students. Officials in some communities imposed quarantines, ordered citizens to wear masks and shut down public places, including schools, churches and theaters.

People were advised to avoid shaking hands and to stay indoors, libraries put a halt on lending books and regulations were passed banning spitting. According to an April 30, 2009, report in The New York Times, during the pandemic, Boy Scouts in New York City approached people they’d seen spitting on the street and gave them cards that read: “You are in violation of the Sanitary Code.” The Flu Takes Heavy Toll on Society The flu took a heavy human toll, wiping out entire families and leaving countless widows and orphans in its wake. Funeral parlors were overwhelmed and bodies piled up. Some people even had to dig graves for their own family members. The flu was also detrimental to the economy. In the U.S., businesses were forced to shut down because so many employees were sick. Basic services such as mail delivery and garbage collection were hindered due to flu-stricken workers. In some places there weren’t enough farm workers to harvest crops. Even state and local health departments closed for business, hampering efforts to chronicle the spread of the 1918 flu and provide the public with answers about it.

Flu Pandemic Comes to an End By the summer of 1919, the flu pandemic came to an end, as those that were infected either died or developed immunity. Almost 90 years later, in 2008, researchers announced they’d discovered what made the 1918 flu so deadly: A group of three genes enabled the virus to weaken a victim’s bronchial tubes and lungs and clear the way for bacterial pneumonia. Since 1918, there have been several other influenza pandemics, although none as deadly. A flu pandemic from 1957 to 1958 killed around 2 million people worldwide, including some 70,000 people in the U.S., and a pandemic from 1968 to 1969 killed approximately 1 million people, including some 34,000 Americans. More than 12,000 Americans perished during the H1N1 (or “swine flu”) pandemic that occurred from 2009 to 2010.

Tags Reconstruction of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Virus | Seasonal Influenza (Flu) | CDC Reconstruction of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Virus To receive email updates about this page, enter your email address: Enter Email Address Reconstruction of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Virus Questions & Answers Biosecurity Issues CDC researchers and their colleagues successfully reconstructed the influenza virus that caused the 1918-19 flu pandemic, which killed as many as 50 million people worldwide. A report of their work, " Characterization of the Reconstructed 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic Virus ", was published in the October 7, 2005 issue of Science. The work was a collaboration among scientists from CDC, Mount Sinai School of Medicine , the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, and Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory . The following questions and answers describe this important research and related issues. Background on the Research What research does the Science article describe? Why is it important?

This report describes the successful reconstruction of the influenza A (H1N1) virus responsible for the 1918 “Spanish flu” pandemic and provides new information about the properties that contributed to its exceptional virulence. This information is critical to evaluating the effectiveness of current and future public health interventions, which could be used in the event that a 1918-like virus reemerges. The knowledge from this work may also shed light on the pathogenesis of contemporary human influenza viruses with pandemic potential. The natural emergence of another pandemic virus is considered highly likely by many experts, and therefore insights into pathogenic mechanisms could contribute to the development of prophylactic and therapeutic interventions needed to control pandemic viruses. What are the reasons for doing these experiments? The influenza pandemic of 1918-19 killed an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide, many more than the subsequent pandemics of the 20th century. The biological properties that confer virulence to pandemic influenza viruses were poorly understood. Research to better understand how the individual genes of the1918 pandemic influenza virus contribute to the disease process could provide important insights into the basis of virulence.

This kind of information will enable us to devise appropriate strategies for early diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, should a similar pandemic virus emerge. Additionally, such research will provide us with general principles with which we can better design antiviral drugs and other interventions against all influenza viruses with enhanced virulence. Who funded the work described in this article? Work with the reconstructed 1918 virus was conducted at and supported by CDC. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) all provided support for many other aspects of this research. When did CDC begin research on the 1918 virus? CDC studies of the 1918 influenza virus were begun in 2004 with the initiation of testing of viruses containing subsets of the eight genes of the 1918 virus. Previous articles describing the properties of such viruses were published before 2005. Reconstruction of the entire 1918 virus was begun in August 2005. Top of Page Could a 1918-like H1N1 virus re-emerge and cause a pandemic again?

It is impossible to predict with certainly, but the probability of the 1918 virus re-emerging from a natural source appears to be remote. Influenza experts believe that a pandemic is most likely to be caused by an influenza subtype to which there is little, or no, preexisting immunity in the human population. There is evidence that some residual immunity to the 1918 virus, or a similar virus, is present in at least a portion of the human population. Since contemporary H1N1 viruses circulate widely and the current annual influenza vaccines contain an H1N1 component, a 1918-like H1N1 virus would not fit the current criteria for a new pandemic strain. Are current antivirals and vaccines effective against the 1918 virus? Yes. Two types of antiviral drugs, rimantadine (Flumadine) and oseltamivir (Tamiflu), have been shown to be effective against influenza viruses similar to the 1918 virus. Vaccines containing the 1918 HA or other subtype H1 HA proteins were effective in protecting mice against the 1918 virus.

In fact, the current influenza vaccine provided some level of protection against the 1918 virus in mice. Are new prophylactics and therapeutics against the 1918 virus under way? The reconstruction of the 1918 virus will enable CDC to pursue development of a vaccine candidate reference virus that would provide optimal protection against this or similar viruses. Top of Page Can these experiments be done safely using containment provided by BSL-3 with enhancements? Highly trained laboratorians can work with the 1918 influenza virus strain safely using BSL-3-enhanced containment. Researchers at CDC have specialized training and go through a rigorous biosafety (and security) clearance process. For the work reported in the Science article, the lead CDC researcher provided routine weekly written reports to CDC management officials, including the agency's Chief Science Officer, and was instructed to notify agency officials immediately of any concerns related to biosafety or biosecurity. A BSL-3 facility with specific enhancements includes primary (safety cabinets, isolation cabinets, gloves, gowns) and secondary (facility construction) barriers to protect laboratory workers and the public from accidental exposure.

Specific enhancements include change-of-clothing and shower-out requirements, and the use of a powered air purifying respirator (PAPR; half body suits). The primary and secondary barriers plus additional personal safety practices provide appropriate containment for conducting such influenza research. CDC evaluated the specific studies to be conducted as well as the highly experienced scientific team conducting the research and concluded that this work could proceed under BSL-3 containment with enhancements. Why was BSL-3-enhanced containment used for work on the 1918 H1N1 virus when most human influenza viruses of the H1N1 subtype are handled under much less stringent containment? The appropriate biosafety measures for working a given pathogen depend upon a number of factors, including previous experience with the pathogen or similar pathogens, the virulence and transmissibility of the pathogen, the type of experiment, and the availability of vaccines and/or antimicrobial drugs effective against the pathogen. Prior to reconstruction of the 1918 virus, CDC carefully evaluated the specific studies to be conducted and concluded that this research could safely and securely be done under BSL-3-enhanced containment.

All viruses containing one or more gene segments from the 1918 influenza virus were generated and handled under high-containment (BSL 3-enhanced) laboratory conditions in accordance with guidelines of NIH and CDC. The recommendations for biosafety levels are made by a panel of experts and are followed in a stringent manner. A higher level of containment (biosafety level 4) is utilized for work on novel or exotic pathogens for which there is no treatment or vaccine. This is not the case for the 1918 virus. Decedents of the 1918 influenza virus still circulate today, and the current influenza vaccine provides some protection against the 1918 virus. In addition, two types of antiviral drugs, rimantadine (Flumadine) and oseltamivir (Tamiflu), are effective against viruses bearing 1918 virus gene products targeted by the antiviral drugs. The physical and engineering design of BSL-3-enhanced containment is very similar to that used in BSL-4 laboratories.

The BSL-3 laboratory also has state-of-the-art directional airflow control which filters outgoing air, and all waste is autoclaved or decontaminated before it leaves the work area, preventing escape of infectious agents. Top of Page Biosecurity Issues Does the generation of the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic virus containing the complete coding sequence of the eight viral gene segments violate the Biological Weapons Convention? No. Article I of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) specifically allows for microbiological research for prophylactic, protective, or other peaceful purposes. Article X of the BWC encourages the "fullest possible exchange of...scientific and technological information" for the use of biological agents for the prevention of disease and other peaceful purposes. Further, Article X of the BWC provides that the BWC should not hamper technological development in the field of peaceful bacteriological activities. Because the emergence of another pandemic virus is considered likely, if not inevitable, characterization of the 1918 virus may enable us to recognize the potential threat posed by new influenza virus strains, and it will shed light on the prophylactic and therapeutic countermeasures that will be needed to control pandemic viruses.

Does the report provide a "blueprint" for bioterrorists to develop and unleash a devastating pandemic on the world? No. This report does not provide the blueprint for bioterrorist to develop a pandemic influenza strain. The reverse genetics system that was used to generate the 1918 virus is a widely used laboratory technique. While there are concerns that this approach could potentially be misused for purposes of bioterrorism, there are also clear and significant potential benefits of sharing this information with the scientific community: namely, facilitating the development of effective interventions, thereby strengthening public health and national security. Is the 1918 influenza virus a select agent? The Intra-governmental Select Agents and Toxins Technical Advisory Committee convened on September 30, 2005, and recommended that the reconstructed 1918 influenza virus be added to the list of HHS select agents. Following this recommendation, CDC amended its regulations and designated all reconstructed replication competent forms of the 1918 pandemic influenza virus containing any portion of the coding regions of all eight gene segments (reconstructed 1918 Influenza virus) as a select agent. What is the Select Agent Program?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regulates the possession, use and transfer of select agents and toxins that have the potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety. The CDC Select Agent Program oversees these activities and registers all laboratories and other entities in the United States of America that possess, use or transfer a select agent or toxin. The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) published final rules for the possession, use, and transfer of select agents and toxins (42 C.F.R. Part 73, 7 C.F.R. Part 331, and 9 C.F.R. Part 121) in the Federal Register on March 18, 2005. All provisions of these final rules supersede those contained in the interim final rules and became effective on April 18, 2005.

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic, Vaccines and Flu Shots - NaturalNews.com The 1918 Influenza Pandemic, Vaccines and Flu Shots Tuesday, March 03, 2009 Popular on Facebook 62K EVERYTHING IS RIGGED: Medicine, science, elections, the media, money, education, search engines, social media... you are living in a fabricated fairy tale 40K All-out effort to destroy Trump PROVES he's not part of the establishment... NOT an insider... 'Trump' movement has grown way beyond one man's actions or words 37K Hexavalent chromium (chromium-6) was just found in 75% of drinking water... the mass chemical suicide of America is under way 36K Electoral victory for Hillary already LOCKED IN via massive bribery... George Soros admits on video... democracy be damned... THEFT of the presidency already complete 35K Chaos will erupt across America in less than 100 days...

no matter who wins the election 27K The defeat of Hillary Clinton just dealt a devastating blow to Monsanto, Big Pharma and the corrupt vaccine industry 23K Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson just sold out to Big Pharma... says children should be forcibly injected with mercury at gunpoint... claims government 'science' overrides medical freedom 23K Facebook goes full ORWELLIAN... now blocking all stories mentioning the keyword phrase 'm-nd-t-ry v-cc-n-t--ns' 20K Hillary the CHEAT! Clinton caught wearing covert earpiece during last night's debate with Trump... brazen dishonesty on display yet again 19K Staged Zika pandemic was engineered by globalist governments to justify the aerial bombardment of awakening populations with toxic chemicals 18K TRUMP MIRACLE... DEPLORABLES TAKE BACK AMERICA...

LEFTISTS TOTAL FREAK OUT 17K Natural News announces economic boycott of CNN corporate sponsors, including GEICO, WellsFargo, Sprint, Dodge and ETrade 16K The defeated left turns to HATE: Liberals unleash beatings, death threats and calls for mass murder of Trump supporters 15K Tweet (NaturalNews) Following the breaking news today that Baxter International, Inc. (a U.S. drug company) shipped live avian influenza in vaccine materials distributed to 18 countries, it's worth reviewing a bit of history about the 1918 influenza pandemic. This provides a picture of what might have happened if the bird flu viral strains had not been detected and halted. It also raises the question: Are drug companies tempting Mother Nature by working with live viruses in their vaccines? All it takes is one mistake (like we almost just had) and the 2009 Influenza Pandemic could be unleashed... See my full story on this issue here: Authors' Quotes on the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Below, you'll find selected quotes from noted authors.

Feel free to quote these in your own work provided you give proper credit to both the original author quoted here and this NaturalNews page. Only five types of influenza are known to infect humans: HI, H2, H3, and Nl or N2. The avian influenza viruses H4, H5, and H7 make birds sick but usually don't infect humans. That may be about to change, however. In addition to its technical designation, when the flu becomes a human infection, each of the different influenza A viruses is given a common name corresponding to the place of outbreak or origin: the Spanish flu of 1918 or the Hong Kong flu of 1968. The word "influenza" is derived from the Latin influentia, to influence. Influenza is called the "last of the great uncontrolled plagues," and some epidemiologists believe that we are imminently due for an influenza epidemic of plague proportions like that of 1918. - Viral Immunity by J. E. Williams, O.M.D. - Available on Amazon.com A review in The Lancet suggests that influenza vaccination of infants is useless.

Each and every year at this time medical officials come out to remind us of our mortal danger. However, they advocate medical procedures that do little to nothing to protect us, but cost billions nonetheless. Dr. Eleanor McBean was an on-the-spot observer of the 1918 influenza epidemic and said, "As far as I could find out, the flu hit only the vaccinated. Those who had refused the shots escaped the flu. My family had refused all the vaccinations so we remained well all the time. - Transdermal Magnesium Therapy by Mark Sircus - Available on Amazon.com Just over thirty years ago, in 1976, the Centers for Disease Control investigated and confirmed that a severe influenza outbreak at Fort Dix, New Jersey, had been caused by the "swine flu " -- an influenza A-type virus. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare grew concerned that the United States might be about to see another large national flu pandemic, involving numbers of influenza deaths reminiscent of the flu pandemic of 1918. The federal government deemed it prudent to vaccinate all Americans. In October 1976, the National influenza Immunization Program officially began.

- The Autoimmune Epidemic by Donna Jackson Nakazawa - Available on Amazon.com The infamous 1918 influenza, which spun around the planet in the last year of World War I, ended up killing more people than the Great War itself. Though it was called the "Spanish" flu, it most likely originated in Asia. In America, the first outbreak occurred on a military base in Kansas in the vicinity of a pig farm. The 1918 pandemic is believed to have killed up to 40 million people worldwide, including 675,000 Americans. Many more got sick but survived. The 1918 flu killed more soldiers engaged in the war than the combat of the trenches. Available on Amazon.com Avian flu is feared because it could provoke a repeat of the influenza pandemic of 1918. The 1918 flu, or H1N1 virus, was -- like the avian flu -- an influenza A virus. Like that earlier flu, avian flu unleashes an unusual hurricanelike storm of immune-system signaling proteins called cytokines, which signal the immune system to combat microbial invaders.

Cytokines signaling to the immune system to fight disease is a good thing, but when cytokine levels are elevated for too long and their signaling becomes uncontrolled, they can hijack the body's immune system to turn against the body itself. - The Autoimmune Epidemic by Donna Jackson Nakazawa - Available on Amazon.com Experts believe that the current avian H5N1 influenza strain, "bird flu," has the potential to become a human pandemic in proportions that could dwarf the Spanish flu of 1918, which killed millions and is, to date, the deadliest influenza outbreak in modern history. Flu hunters, influenza experts who follow viral outbreaks, identify hot spots, study the disease in the laboratory, investigate its genetic code, and create theoretical worst-case scenarios in order to understand the disease and predict its path, all agree on one thing: It's only a matter of time before the next outbreak happens. Available on Amazon.com Fear of influenza deaths in numbers similar to the 1918 flu epidemic led to a recommendation that the federal government vaccinate all Americans. When insurance companies refused to provide coverage to the vaccine manufacturers, the government agreed to accept liability for claims of adverse events.

This obstacle having been cleared, the National influenza Immunization Program (NIIP) officially started in October of 1976. Available on Amazon.com Given the increasing virulence and frequency of other viruses, it seems certain that a more potent influenza virus will appear. In the temperate regions, like North America and Europe, flu outbreaks occur every winter and epidemics approximately every eight to ten years. Worldwide influenza pandemics occur every ten to forty years, and in the last century the world experienced three: the Spanish flu of 1918; the Asian flu in 1957; and the Hong Kong flu in 1968. - Viral Immunity by J. E. Williams, O.M.D. - Available on Amazon.com If a strain of influenza emerged that retained these traits and added others like resistance to antiviral drugs and the ability to outsmart vaccines, we'd be in big trouble. A super flu is a viral infection that has all the ancestral traits of influenza, is drug-resistant, has undergone genetic mutations that make it possible for it to spread from human to human, no one has immunity to, and is extremely contagious and virulent.

Pandemic influenza, like the Spanish flu of 1918, is much more virulent than regular flu. Available on Amazon.com Though little attention is paid to a possible connection between fibromyalgia and influenza A, some experts suggest it is an overlooked syndrome. In one research paper, Allen Tyler, a medical doctor and naturopathic physician, reports that fibromyalgia was not seen before the 1918 flu pandemic. In his research, he found that 90 percent of fibromyalgia patients tested positive for influenza A antibodies. - Viral Immunity by J. E. Williams, O.M.D. - Available on Amazon.com The experts hope that a pandemic influenza will be nothing more than a more severe version of seasonal nuisance flu, but they're not betting on it. Viral dynamics are a mystery. We could be in for a super flu. During a pandemic, symptoms may not follow the usual course. If the coming one is anything like the 1918 influenza pandemic, inflammation may not be confined to the lungs, like regular flu, but could affect the brain, liver, and other body tissues. The virus could even bypass the respiratory system entirely.

Available on Amazon.com The 1918-19 epidemic of Spanish influenza killed 20-40 million people in less than a year, causing more deaths than all the massive military casualties of World War I. In the spring of 1918, the German Army's assault on Paris was halted by this flu. It not only affected Europeans, but an unbelievable 80 percent of the United States Army's death toll was from the Spanish flu that killed 43,000 American soldiers between 1917 and 1919 -- nearly as many as died in combat in the Korean War some thirty years later. - Viral Immunity by J. E. Williams, O.M.D. - Available on Amazon.com During the conquest of the Americas, upward of 95 percent of indigenous people in North America, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America were wiped out by smallpox and influenza. The last major killer pandemic, the Spanish flu of 1918, caused an estimated 50 million deaths and possibly as high as 100 million in a single year. It reached even remote corners of the globe.

The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was more like a Biblical prophecy come true than a medical disease. Available on Amazon.com This tablet is made from the combined strains of influenza virus from the major flu epidemics since 1918. The combined strains are then homeopathically prepared and potentized. No ill effects have ever been reported from the "cold and flu" tablet, and the rate of protection has been high. In the flu epidemic of 1918 to 1920, the homeopaths lost only 1 percent of their patients, as opposed to 30 to 40 percent under allopathic care. Available on Amazon.com The 1918 outbreak was directly linked with the Great War (World War 1). The influenza A virus strain of subtype H1N1 behind the flu pandemic was unusually severe and deadly. What made it that way? At no time in history was the world exposed to such massive and 24-hour pollution created by the fumes and smoke resulting from continuous bomb and grenade explosions, the burning of entire cities, the effects of mustard gases and other biological weapons by Germans. Nobody remained uninfluenced by it.

Available on Amazon.com Quotes on Flu Shots A study from the Netherlands showed that among two groups of elderly people, one that received flu shots and one that received a placebo, the group receiving the flu shot only had a 1 percent lower incidence of flu than the placebo group! Flu shots are not without side effects. Studies have shown that as many as one in 10 people who get a flu shot experience flu symptoms within a week. Available on Amazon.com There are no controlled trials that show that a flu shot prevents deaths in children or the elderly. The only positive studies are of patients with COPD, probably because COPD patients have marginal lung function and preventing any flu infections will have a greater impact. Dr. Tom Jefferson, an epidemiologist working for the Cochrane Collaboration in Rome, Italy, a nonprofit organization that conducts analyses of published clinical trials, led a group that performed a comprehensive review of the published data on flu vaccines. Available on Amazon.com Just as the vaccination against hepatitis will give a false positive, the innocuous flu shot will create the same mistaken result. The New York Times reported, "Some blood donors who received the Beijing flu shot were testing positive to HFV...

Upon further blood testing, the 'positive' HIV tests were determined to be 'false-positive.'" A more scholarly examination appeared in the American Journal of Epidemiology, which noted that in December 1991, "U.S. blood centers reported an unusual increase in donations that tested falsely reactive" for HIV antibodies and other infections. - AIDS: A Second Opinion by Gary Null, James Feast - Available on Amazon.com The decision was to compensate anyone who got the disease within ten weeks of a swine flu shot. The cases were to be tried by federal district judges, without a jury, and so it would be up to the judges to decide who had a legitimate claim and who did not. The law allowed people to file claims within two years after their injuries, and the claims steadily dribbled in. In September 1977, 743 claims had been filed, seeking $325,671,708 in damages. There were also 67 claims of wrongful death, including 19 of death from Guillain-Barre syndrome, and these claims sought an additional $1,032,948,179.

Available on Amazon.com With each new flu shot, on the other hand, your immune system becomes more depleted and the side effects become more pronounced and severe. And, you may still get the flu anyway... The bottom line is that there is no real advantage in having a flu shot. And certainly, given the frailty of so many of the oldest members of society, there is absolutely no reliable way of telling whether the flu or something else may have led to their death. The death rate in and out of the flu season is actually about the same. But then, as we have seen with AIDS, statistics can be manipulated in ways that support theories which have only one objective, to keep the medical business going. Available on Amazon.com In 1999 a bizarre flu-like illness struck millions, the flu shot seemingly offering little if any protection. Instead of lasting the typical week or so, symptoms persisted as long as six weeks, severely weakening infected individuals. Yet, it was Dr. Lederberg who described the return of the cycle of epidemic infection, not nationally but, rather, globally. He predicts that a pandemic, that is a global epidemic afflicting untold millions, perhaps billions, will strike at any moment.

His view is shared by the majority of microbiologists. The viruses of the current era are highly invasive. - Dr. Cass Ingram's Lifesaving Cures by Dr. Cass Ingram - Available on Amazon.com When times are tough, you need food that provides you with NUTRITION, not POISON! Ranger Bucker Organic Emergency Storable Food Supply - Organic, lab-verified and made completely without junk ingredients, GMOs, hidden MSG or other junk. Join the Health Ranger's FREE email newsletter Get breaking news alerts on GMOs, fluoride, superfoods, natural cures and more... Is the CDC inflating influenza death statistics by ignoring vitamin D deficiencies? About the author: Mike Adams (aka the " Health Ranger ") is a best selling author (#1 best selling science book on Amazon.com) and a globally recognized scientific researcher in clean foods. He serves as the founding editor of NaturalNews.com and the lab science director of an internationally accredited (ISO 17025) analytical laboratory known as CWC Labs . There, he was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for achieving extremely high accuracy in the analysis of toxic elements in unknown water samples using ICP-MS instrumentation.

Adams is also highly proficient in running liquid chromatography, ion chromatography and mass spectrometry time-of-flight analytical instrumentation. Adams is a person of color whose ancestors include Africans and Native American Indians. He's also of Native American heritage , which he credits as inspiring his "Health Ranger" passion for protecting life and nature against the destruction caused by chemicals, heavy metals and other forms of pollution. Adams is the founder and publisher of the open source science journal Natural Science Journal , the author of numerous peer-reviewed science papers published by the journal, and the author of the world's first book that published ICP-MS heavy metals analysis results for foods, dietary supplements, pet food, spices and fast food. The book is entitled Food Forensics and is published by BenBella Books. In his laboratory research, Adams has made numerous food safety breakthroughs such as revealing rice protein products imported from Asia to be contaminated with toxic heavy metals like lead, cadmium and tungsten . Adams was the first food science researcher to document high levels of tungsten in superfoods . He also discovered over 11 ppm lead in imported mangosteen powder , and led an industry-wide voluntary agreement to limit heavy metals in rice protein products.

In addition to his lab work, Adams is also the (non-paid) executive director of the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center (CWC), an organization that redirects 100% of its donations receipts to grant programs that teach children and women how to grow their own food or vastly improve their nutrition. Through the non-profit CWC, Adams also launched Nutrition Rescue , a program that donates essential vitamins to people in need. Click here to see some of the CWC success stories. With a background in science and software technology, Adams is the original founder of the email newsletter technology company known as Arial Software . Using his technical experience combined with his love for natural health, Adams developed and deployed the content management system currently driving NaturalNews.com. He also engineered the high-level statistical algorithms that power SCIENCE.naturalnews.com , a massive research resource featuring over 10 million scientific studies. Adams is well known for his incredibly popular consumer activism video blowing the lid on fake blueberries used throughout the food supply.

He has also exposed "strange fibers" found in Chicken McNuggets , fake academic credentials of so-called health "gurus," dangerous "detox" products imported as battery acid and sold for oral consumption, fake acai berry scams , the California raw milk raids , the vaccine research fraud revealed by industry whistleblowers and many other topics. Adams has also helped defend the rights of home gardeners and protect the medical freedom rights of parents . Adams is widely recognized to have made a remarkable global impact on issues like GMOs, vaccines, nutrition therapies, human consciousness. In addition to his activism, Adams is an accomplished musician who has released over a dozen popular songs covering a variety of activism topics. 1918 Flu Pandemic - The Spanish Flu 1918 Flu Pandemic By Kristina Duda, RN - Reviewed by a board-certified physician. Updated March 20, 2016 In 1918, a flu virus spread around the world, leading to a pandemic. This pandemic has come to be known as the 1918 or the Spanish Flu. It was caused by an H1N1 influenza A virus that scientists believe mutated from an influenza virus that was previously infecting only birds.

It evolved and changed enough that it was able to infect humans and spread rapidly from person to person. Because this type of influenza virus had never infected the human population before, it was able to infect an enormous number of people very quickly. Another unique quality of this influenza virus was its ability to pass not only from birds to humans, but from humans to pigs. After infecting pigs, it has continued to evolve and has been the "parent" virus of every pandemic flu we have seen since 1918. How it Started The H1N1 virus that caused the 1918 pandemic began as an avian flu virus . As influenza viruses do, it mutated and developed the ability to infect humans and spread between humans easily and rapidly. We still don't know exactly why or how this happened (or how it continues to happen), we only know that it did. Who it Affected The 1918 flu affected tens of millions of people across the globe. It is estimated that up to 40% of the world's population was infected with the virus and between 20 and 50 million people died.

The 1918 flu was particularly serious because it affected young, healthy people just as severely as it did those in the typical high-risk groups . More adults between the ages of 20 and 50 got sick and died from the 1918 flu than any other group. Typically, the flu is most serious for infants, older adults and people with chronic health problems, not healthy adults. 1918 Pandemic Flu Symptoms Symptoms of the 1918 flu were not entirely different than the symptoms of the typical seasonal flu. What was significant about this strain of the influenza virus was how quickly it made people sick. It is reported that many people who woke up with no flu symptoms got sick in the morning and were dead by nighttime. Rather than the typical five to seven days of flu symptoms that we have come to expect today, this strain struck much more quickly. Another major cause of death during the pandemic was secondary bacterial infections . If a person did not die from the actual flu virus in the first few days of illness, many ended up with bacterial infections - such as pneumonia - that ultimately claimed their lives. The Three Waves There were three major "waves" of illness during the 1918 flu pandemic.

The first wave started in the spring and summer of 1918 with a significant, but relatively mild cases of influenza. The first reports came from Kansas followed by reports of otherwise healthy soldiers in Europe coming down with the illness. The disease quickly spread to civilians in Europe and around the world. In the fall of 1918, the second wave of the pandemic started. This brought another onslaught of illness on, killing more people than the initial wave. The third and final wave occurred in the spring of 1919. It is estimated that 675,000 people in the United States (population at the time was 105 million) lost their lives in the Spanish Flu pandemic. What We Have Learned From the 1918 Flu Pandemic Every major flu pandemic the world has experienced since 1918 has been connected to this one. The viruses have been a mutation in one form or another of this unique pandemic virus. Because it sickened and killed so much of the world's population, every other pandemic is compared to this one and the way we react to pandemic threats is based on a virus's potential to kill like this one did.

Sources: "Dynasty: Influenza Virus in 1918 and Today" National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases 29 Jun 09. National Institutes of Health. 31 Jan 12. "The Great Pandemic" The Office of the Public Health Service Historian. US Department of Health and Human Services. 15 Feb 12. Continue Reading Influenza Pandemics | History of Vaccines The Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Patient with Spanish influenza Influenza is an infectious disease commonly characterized by fever, muscles aches, sore throat, headache, and fatigue. It is generally caused by one of two types of influenza virus: influenza A or influenza B. (Influenza C causes upper respiratory tract infections in young people but is not as common as the other two types.) Most people infected with influenza feel ill for several days and then recover. In some instances, though influenza can lead to pneumonia, other complications, and even death. People’s protection from viruses depends on having their having been exposed to the virus before, through infection or from a vaccine for that virus.

In either case, the immune system “remembers” the virus and creates virus-specific antibodies that will neutralize the virus when it next enters the body. But influenza viruses can mutate, or change, rapidly. Every few years, influenza viruses mutate enough to result in a new strain. This process is known as antigenic drift. People who have been exposed to a related strain of that virus will likely have some pre-existing immunity to it in the form of antibodies, and the illness that results may be mild. Occasionally, a major change in a virus produces a strain so different from the others before it that humans have little or no preexisting immunity. This process is known as antigenic shift, and it can result in widespread, serious illness. An influenza pandemic occurs when a new subtype or strain of influenza virus develops from antigenic shift and spreads globally. Three pandemics occurred in the 20th century, all of them caused by antigenic shift in influenza A strains. A pandemic in 2009, less deadly than the 20th-century outbreaks, was the result of a unique combination of genetic changes. The 1918-19 pandemic is the event against which all other pandemics are compared because of its unprecedented death toll.

Spanish Influenza, 1918-19 No other epidemic has claimed as many lives as the Spanish Influenza epidemic in 1918-1919. Worldwide, as many as 40 million people died as this virulent illness swept through city after city (some estimates put total deaths closer to 70 million). Stories abounded of people dying within hours of first feeling ill. The mortality rate was highest among adults under age 50, who were, for unknown reasons, particularly vulnerable to serious disease resulting from this strain of influenza. The first cases of influenza appeared in Kansas in early spring 1918. Later that spring, officials reported large numbers of cases from Europe, though this flu seemed no more dangerous than the usual variety. However, in late summer, the virus became more deadly. Soon, waves of infection moved through towns, nations, and continents, overwhelming hospitals and medical personnel. The name Spanish Influenza came from the devastating effects of the flu in Spain in autumn 1918. In 1918 influenza had neither treatment nor an effective vaccine. Indeed, most experts at the time thought that a bacterium caused influenza, rather than a virus.

And though vaccines existed for several other diseases, and a few useless and possibly harmful anti-flu vaccines were concocted , an effective influenza vaccine was decades away. Nor were there antibiotics to treat the virulent bacterial infections that sprang up in influenza’s wake. Late spring of 1919 saw the last of the Spanish Influenza. The virus drifted into relative harmlessness through the 1920s and continued to circulate for several decades. Scientists have since been able to classify the virus responsible for the 1918-19 pandemic as an H1N1 influenza. Asian Influenza, 1957-58 Influenza remained a yearly occurrence after the 1918 pandemic, but no new, virulent influenza type emerged until early 1957. In February of that year, evidence began to surface about a serious wave of flu cutting a path through China. Maurice Hilleman, a microbiologist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, noticed news reports about influenza in Asia. The number of cases led him to think that a new type of influenza was emerging and that a pandemic threatened.

Hilleman and his team obtained a sample of the virus from a U.S. serviceman. They soon determined that most people lacked antibody protection from the new influenza virus, which was an H2N2 type. Only certain older people who had survived an influenza pandemic of 1889-1890 showed antibody response to the new virus. Hilleman jump-started vaccine production by sending virus samples to manufacturers and urging them to develop a vaccine in four months. The U.S. epidemic reached its worst in October 1957, when about 7 million people had received the vaccine. Worldwide, from 1957-1958, about 2 million people died from Asian flu, with about 70,000 deaths in the United States. Hong Kong Flu, 1968-69 As in the pandemic just ten years earlier, the first signs of a new influenza A strain emerged in Asia. The virus (H3N2) reached the United States in September 1968 and peaked in the winter months. A vaccine became available but was not produced early enough to provide significant protection.

About 34,000 people died in the United States during this pandemic. Some scientists think that a similarity with the 1957-58 Asian flu may have helped protect people from more serious disease. (Like the Asian flu, the Hong Kong flu had an N2 component.) Avian Flu Threat, 1997-Present The next significant threat to emerge in influenza came again from Asia, where an avian influenza (H5N1) infected birds and then spread to humans. A number of humans became ill and died from the virus. The outbreaks were particularly severe in 2003-2004, when tens of millions of poultry and waterfowl died from the flu. The virus, however, did not spread from person to person, but only among birds and then to humans. The lack of human-to-human spread limited disease incidence. After widespread destruction of poultry flocks, the threat diminished. The threat of bird flu remains, however, in that another deadly strain could arise that would be capable of spreading from human to human and causing a pandemic. Novel H1N1, 2009 The latest pandemic influenza appeared in Mexico in mid-March 2009.

This flu appeared particularly troubling at first, because death rates in Mexico seemed unusually high. Soon cases appeared in California and Texas, and the disease continued to spread. Scientists identified the virus as influenza A H1N1, with its origin likely in pigs. The World Health Organization provided global guidance on the emerging threat, and national, state, and local governments began implementing pandemic influenza plans. Though the disease spread rapidly, with an initial peak in the United States of early May, the resulting illness did not turn out to be as severe as the early Mexican reports indicated it might be. Still, the disease took a heavier toll on children and young adults than seasonal flu typically does. Usually, 90% of seasonal flu-related deaths occur in people over age 65, whereas 87% of deaths from H1N1-related illness occurred in people under age 65. One possible explanation for this is that many people born before 1950 seemed to have some pre-existing immunity to the virus, possibly because virus types related to the 1918 H1N1 flu pandemic were still circulating earlier in the 20th century.

A massive effort to produce vaccine for the new H1N1 strain began shortly after scientists identified the virus. The virus proved to grow slowly during the manufacturing process, which relies on cultivation of the virus in chicken eggs. In the United States, most vaccine arrived after the second peak of influenza cases in late October. In fact, experts had predicted that 160 million doses of the vaccine would be available by mid-October. But by that time, only 30 million doses had been delivered. CDC estimates that between 42 million and 86 million cases of 2009 H1N1 occurred in the United States between April 2009 and February 13, 2010. Between 188,000 and 389,000 H1N1-related hospitalizations occurred during this period, as did 8,520-17,620 deaths. Was 2009 H1N1 the result of antigenic shift or antigenic drift? No new H- or N-subtype entered the human population, which would indicate antigenic shift. But neither does the virus obviously fit with the definition of antigenic drift.

As one report says, “The emergence of the 2009 H1N1 virus is an unprecedented event in modern virology. The 2009 H1N1 virus does not fit the classic definition of a new subtype for which most of the population has no previous infection experience. Since 1977, H1N1 viruses have been in continuous circulation, and most persons born before 1956 have previous infection experience with H1N1 strains in the pre-H2N2 era. The 2009 H1N1 virus also does not fit the classic definition of drift because it has no direct evolutionary relationship with recently circulating H1N1 viruses of human origin” (Sullivan SJ, Jacobson RM, Dowdle WR, Poland GA. 2009 H1N1 Influenza). The Future of Pandemic Influenza The World Health Organization developed new pandemic guidelines in 2005 that prompted national and local authorities to revisit and upgrade their pandemic preparedness plans. The plans had been developed after the bird flu outbreaks of late 1990s.

The 2009 H1N1 pandemic provided public health authorities a chance to implement new plans designed to respond to pandemic illness. As groups study the 2009 pandemic response, many point to the need for quicker development and distribution of influenza vaccine. Industry and public health officials are examining new technologies and methods to increase vaccine availability. For instance, U.S. companies might begin to use adjuvant in influenza vaccine, as is done in the European Union and Canada, which would allow them to use smaller amounts of antigen in each dose. Additionally, they might begin to use new antigen cultivation technologies to avoid the slow process of vaccine production in eggs. The need for continued attention to pandemic influenza plans is apparent. As a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report states, “If a pandemic influenza virus with similar virulence to the 1918 strain emerged today, in the absence of intervention, it is estimated that 1.9 million Americans could die and almost 10 million could be hospitalized….” (Pandemic Influenza Plan, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). This article has been translated into Ukrainian here and French here . Sources

Question: The 1918 pandemic was given what name?
Answer: Spanish Flu